At the heart of Rosedale's outreach programme lies a desire to engage with and serve the people around them in Cheshunt.

Rosedale Community Church is a lively, family friendly environment, led by Pastor, Bethany Green (pictured) and a strong and enthusiastic team. The church has a welcoming feel with an open style of praise and worship, and runs a variety of groups to suit a range of ages and interests.

Rosedale Groups

Butterfly Babes is a baby and toddler group that meets every Monday morning for a cup of tea, snacks for the little ones and play and rhyme time for all.

No Limits is a youth group enables the church's young people to come together in friendship to share ideas and take part in activities.

Young at Heart is a group that is popular with the 'slightly older' members. They get together every Wednesday afternoon to take part in quizzes and craft sessions, listen to invited speakers and enjoy some trips out. Young at Heart meetings are open to everyone, and there is always a plentiful supply of tea, coffee and biscuits.

Men's Prayer Breakfast is on the first Saturday of every month at a local cafe, where men from the church get together for an informal prayer meeting, bolstered by a full English breakfast - or a slice of toast!

Missions

Also close to Rosedale's heart are the number of missions they support. Being a Connexion church, they have strong links with Sierra Leone. In addition they support the work of Tearfund and Open Doors through prayer and donations.

Church Services and Sermons

Sunday Services are held at the church for worship at 10.30am, followed by Evening Prayers via zoom at 7pm.

Sermons are recorded each week and posted up on Rosedale's YouTube Page, which allows people to listen in when it suits them best. 

All in all Rosedale is a great place to be! To find out more about this friendly, vibrant church visit their website at: Rosedale Community Church

Zion Community Church has been looking to the Lord to renew and reinvigorate the church, navigating their way into the future - Turning the Tide.

Focusing on prayer, evangelism and training, the church as a whole seeks to make an impact with the gospel in St Ives and surrounding areas. 

Nearly three years ago, Zion's vision was to see the church become established by Summer 2022; growing the membership for long-term growth, supporting a full-time pastor and becoming financially self-sustaining.

Needless to say, the pandemic has challenged their planned development, but with prayer, support and determination, they are continuing with their journey.

Turning the Tide has five key areas of focus:

To build and establish our membership 

• From local churches with sending capacity
• By asking people intentionally to join us
• Through the 'Friends of Zion' group

To re-focus and commit to prayer 

• To be a church devoted to prayer
• To pray intentionally and specifically
• To commit to weekly prayer

 To renew our approach to evangelism

• To study the book of Acts together
• To pursue the 'who's your one?' initiative
• To ensure evangelism is a central focus of church life

To engage an apprentice/trainee each year 

• To pray and plan for the person, accommodation and financial provision
• To support, train and send people to further gospel ministry
• To seek to equip workers for reaching Cornwall and beyond

To further our work with the Peninsula Gospel Partnership (PGP)

• To partner with PGP churches around Cornwall
• To serve other churches as we are able to
• To work together to see our county reached with the gospel.

Achieving Turning the Tide depends on people who will:

• Pray for the church and it's future
• Join the Zion community
• Provide support, giving and training

To find out more about Zion Community Church and their Turning the Tide mission, visit their website: https://zionchurchstives.org/turning-the-tide/

The Countess Free Church is a Connexion church in Ely with big ambitions to strengthen community and encourage discipleship.

Karl Relton, Minister, describes CFC, ‘As a people called together to be a local church, we try to be attentive to the Spirit’s leading, ready to pioneer to new places and ministries. Sometimes this involves listening to and speaking into the culture around us. We reach out, sensitively yet confidently, telling about Jesus through what we say and do. We are about forming community, working like an extended family that is glad to invite others in. We look to nurture faith in all ages, newcomers and the older and wiser.’

Big things for us!

CFC's mission, 'Big things for us as a church' focuses on three key areas:

Church is People – walking together with Jesus in his mission

Discipleship Matters – take responsibility for your own walk and share your walk with others

Engaging with Community – with an open and generous attitude

• Encouraging each person to be actively involved, inviting people to volunteer early on
• Valuing children, their exploration and their own expressions of faith
• Encouraging individuals to take seriously their spiritual rhythms and life, paying attention to their gifts and calling
• Encouraging each person to be accountable, within prayer partnerships
• Fostering a mentoring and apprenticeship culture and recognising that we are all learners
• Developing leadership abilities across all members
• Valuing our engagement with the community, which happens in diverse ways
• Looking to minister to people right where they are at

The Countess Free Church is based in 10 Chapel Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 1AD

Visit their website to find out more information about the church and community: https://www.countessely.co.uk

Would you like to be a Trustee? If so, we would be delighted to hear from you to help us to continue the remarkable legacy of The Countess of Huntingdon. 

The Countess, Lady Selina Shirley, founded The Connexion in the 18th Century, using her own resources to build churches and train preachers who could spread the Gospel as far and wide as possible. Selina was highly respected by all levels of society, from royalty to slavery. She possessed great courage and used it to challenge and break the rules of what was an intensely patriarchal and prejudiced social system.

Among her friends were celebrated advocates of the Methodist Revival, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitfield, who shared her commitment to spreading the mission of Jesus.

The Connexion Today 

In the UK, The Connexion has a network of 22 churches, each of which has their own distinct personality that adds to a richness of the whole.

All of the churches are bound by caring for one another, a shared love of Jesus, and a strong desire to follow him and make disciples of others. The Connexion also has very strong links with churches and communities in Sierra Leone, which continues the legacy from the Countess of Huntingdon.

The Board of Trustees currently has five members: David Lockett (Chair), Simon Allaby, Ben Quant, Bethany Green and Graham Squibbs, who handles all the finances. They operate as a warm, friendly and vibrant team who do an amazing job for our churches and communities in the UK and Sierra Leone. Vacancies now exist for up to three new recruits, who can add their own brand of inspiration to the team. 

No formal qualifications are necessary, just a desire to follow and serve Jesus. And as a voluntary position, the amount of work contributed depends entirely on personal circumstances.  

Our Trustees keep in touch informally by email, phone and zoom, and when possible they meet at an agreed location (in the past, up to four times a year) for face to face meetings. The team's key focus is to help our churches to thrive and enable them to share the Gospel of Jesus with others.

To Apply

To apply to be a Trustee - or to find out more about what's involved - email David Lockett at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact any of our trustees or church leaders, who will be pleased to advise you.

We look forward to welcoming you on board. You will be joining a great team who are working to achieve an even greater purpose! 

Earlier in the year Turners Hill Free Church called Peter James to be their pastor. 

Peter, his wife Sarah and their children have relocated from Christchurch near Bournemouth to Turners Hill. 

Peter is a graduate of Moorlands Theological College where he completed his BA (Hons) in Applied Theology. 

His wife, Sarah had been a secondary school teacher of science for the last 12 years. Sarah is now a housewife looking after baby Joel. 

They are settling in well to life in Turners Hill and the Church, whilst getting to love and serve the church and community. 

Peter advocates the importance of the proclamation of Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sins as central to life and ministry of the Church. 

Please pray for Peter and his family as they settle in and that there will be much fruit as they serve the Lord Jesus. 

They also thank everyone at THFC and Connexions for their warm welcome and support. 

Over Easter, many of our Connexion churches streamed their services, podcasts and videos online. 

The recordings are available to our whole Connexion community as well as friends and families, so please click on the links to join in.

Church services

• Wormley Free Church continue to stream Virtual Church recordings on their website: www.wormleyfreechurch.org.uk. 
• Rosedale Community Church posts Sunday messages every week on their YouTube page: Rosedale Community Church
• Bolney Village Chapel is streaming Sunday services on their Facebook page. They begin at 10.30am: Bolney Village Chapel
• South Street Free Church, Eastbourne, stream their Sunday services, which are also posted on YouTube: South Street Free Church

Worship music

Access is also available to The Lockdown Band website, which features songs, video and audio recordings: www.wormleylockdownband.com

Sermon recordings 

• Goring Free Church: goringfreechurch.org.uk
• The Countess Free Church, Ely: countessely.co.uk 
• New Connections Free Church: newconnexionschurch.org.uk
• Turners Hill Free Church: thfchurch.org
• Woodmancote Church: woodmancotechurch.org.uk

Alternatively, to find a Connexion church near you, click on Connexion Network.

Wishing everybody a very Happy Easter!

The Man on the Cross is a new book of stories for Easter from Simon Allaby at Bolney Village Chapel.

Written for Christians and enquirers alike, the fifteen stories take the reader on a journey from Palm Sunday to the Sunday after Easter, reflecting on events, asking questions and giving an opportunity to respond.

The book could be ideal as a give-away for churches and individuals. Single copies cost £1 each and bundles of 15 copies are £10 (plus p+p). Please contact Simon for prices for bulk orders of more than 45 copies.

For more information or to place an order please click here to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Life Space takes place at Countess Free Church, Ely on Sunday 13 March at 7pm.  

The purpose of the evening is to create space for everyone to come together to praise, pray and be led by the Spirit. All are welcome to come and join in at whatever level suits – whether that is to be still and discover, worship and pray, or just be silent. 

The community at Countess Free Church are lively, charismatic, evangelical and welcoming to people of all ages. The church meets for regular services at 10.30am every Sunday. These gatherings are informal, lasting about 90 minutes, with something for everyone, followed by tea and coffee.

Families are very important and the church has facilities to cater for different age groups, including a crèche for babies and children under 3 years.

Life Space is an informal evening, open to all the churches, and there is no need to book. Just turn up – and join in!

'I no Longer Pray for Peace' by Ann Weems

On the edge of war, one foot already in,

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.

I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.

I pray that all the 'God talk'
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.

I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and wine.

Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God ...
that we can truly love one another.

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.

Poem by Ann Weems (Presbyterian elder and poet)

Also click here to read Ben Quant's poetic response: Incomprehension

Photo: kevinstandagephotography

Like many of our churches, during the pandemic Wormley Free Church learned the advantages of being able to offer hybrid worship. In light of this, they plan to combine ‘face to face’ services for those who can attend with virtual streaming services.

Sunday morning gatherings have now resumed and are held at Wormley Community Centre, Fairfield Drive, starting at 10.30am. The services are informal and lively, with all generations joining in together. After a period of joint worship, young people leave for the creche and Sunday School.

The first Sunday of the month is an All-Age service where everyone remains together, and the second Sunday of the month features communion.

Alongside this, Wormley have also decided to continue to stream video recordings of the services with opportunities to interact, for those who are not able to join the community in person. All of these services will be archived so they can be viewed at any time. Click here to visit their live stream page.